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The Clockwork Sun
"The light of the Clockwork Sun oozes into your cabin like rancid honey." "Pistons pump, cogs turn, and suit-swaddled figures tend to the enginery, bellowing over the shrieking metal." The Clockwork Sun is the artificial star that rules over Albion.__forcetoc__ THE SUN! AGAIN! "Sunlight seeps like syrup through cracks in the stained-glass ceiling. The floor shudders in time with the churning machinery far beneath your feet. The air has a tang of chemicals, bonfires and rain." The Clockwork Sun is the the Dawn Machine 2.0: an actual, functional, artificial Sun! Its power allows Empress Victoria to preside over time itself, and her Throne of Hours is framed in its hollow glow. The Clockwork Sun is the symbol of Albion's dominion, for as long as it shines, the Sun will never set on the British Empire. While the Clockwork Sun enjoys a reputation of reverence and awe among the people of New London, it is one of the most dangerous stations in Albion, as its sick, buttery light turns people into glass, slowly and excruciatingly, and drives them insane. As a result, the station is almost completely deserted. Its only residents are several overworked and exhausted engineers, and the Dawn Rats, a group of Rattus Faber engineers who eventually took to thieving. The station is also home to a priest of the New Sequence (which is basically the state religion at this point), the Dazzled Sequencer, who conducts his rites in the shadowless sundial of Azimuth. Despite his eccentricity, he may be inclined toward charity. Azimuth also serves as an access route to the Sun-Shattered Dome, an extremely dangerous abandoned museum of sorts that's packed with relics and the glass statues of former tourists. Within one of the exhibition halls lies the Glasshouse, a prison of sorts that holds several insane and vitrified prisoners. The Clockwork Sun also causes time to unravel, creating Wefts of Unraveling Time, which can cause time-warps and aging effects. Her Majesty could possibly fix these, but apparently such an act is beneath her. The Sun is Still Sick "There is. The winds whisper to you of the usurper-sun. Of its hollow, mocking light. Of its ravening and monstrous pride. Teach it a lesson, the winds say. Bring it down a peg or two. Perhaps then the Storm that Speaks will forgive you." "You notice the densely-packed scrawl on the walls behind her. Two words, repeated thousands of times, often misspelled, eventually running into a single garbled stream." Like all Judgements, the Clockwork Sun is a sentient being, notorious for its unstable and vitriolic personality. It often aggressively brainwashes people into praising it endlessly, especially those that dare doubt its superiority, turning them into unwilling Sequencers called the Dazzled, assuming it just doesn't glass them outright. The Clockwork Sun took over the King of Hours' domain after the King was murdered; this explains its precedence over time. Naturally, The King's spirit, the the Storm that Speaks, is furious at the Usurper, and will support anyone who pledges themselves against the Clockwork Sun. It's also implied that the Clockwork Sun is dying, or wounded, and that it's not very happy about it. It hates us. But you can't fix perfection. There's no such thing as dusk... The Broken Steward "The Broken Steward has been working on the Sun since before it first shone. She has been here far, far longer than any of the engineers above." The Broken Steward is the sole senior engineer who still maintains the Clockwork Sun. Despite her special protective outfit, her work has caused most of her teeth and bones to be vitrified. It is vital that the Steward's mental well-being is paid attention to, as she's the only senior engineer who isn't brainwashed or entirely made of glass by now. Should anything bad happen to her, maintenance on the Clockwork Sun will probably cease, leaving it in disrepair. Category:Places Category:The High Wilderness Category:Albion Category:Formatted